Mustafa Sultana (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by Mustafa Sultana for a Subclass 836 (Carer) visa. The dispute concerned the AAT's decision-making process regarding the applicant's eligibility for the visa.

The primary legal issue before the AAT was whether it had erred in its decision-making process by not holding a hearing, despite the applicant having provided a carer visa assessment certificate. The AAT was required to determine if it could validly make a decision in favour of the applicant based solely on the documentary material before it, pursuant to section 360(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

The AAT Member, Steven Griffiths, found that a hearing was not necessary as the material before the Tribunal was sufficient to find in favour of the applicant. Consequently, the AAT remitted the application for reconsideration with a direction that the applicant met the criteria for a Subclass 836 visa under regulation 1.15AA(1)(b) and clause 836.221 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).